Welcoming phones in the theatre

Technology is giving audiences back their voice, prompting some theatre companies to embrace their digital critics.
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Image by Jamie Hamel-Smith via StockSnap

One often overlooked benefit of the digitised small and large screens is that they have opened up new and innovative opportunities for audiences to play the role of critic.

The portability of the mobile makes it a prime medium for critical communication in the theatre auditorium. In many ways, the mobile is the contemporary equivalent of the hat of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Like the hat in some ways, the mobile is a versatile accessory that can construct identity, draw attention and is often waved in the air replicating rock-concert enactments.

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Caroline Heim
About the Author
Caroline ​Heim is Lecturer in Drama at Queensland University of Technology.  Before entering academia she worked as a professional actor on New York and other US stages, winning a Drama League Award.